Add an Appointment Calendar Link to Receipt Emails?

Is it possible to add an appointment calendar link to receipt emails? I was excited when Front Desk provided the capacity to send a calendar link with SMS appointment reminders, allowing clients to add their appointment directly into their phone. However, we send appointment reminders out the day before their appointment, which is too late for this to be helpful, and it would be far too labour intensive (and more expensive) to send an additional SMS out every time a client makes an appointment. As most of our clients receive an email receipt, why not automatically include a calendar link for their next appointment in this email?

Thank you for this idea, this is something for us to consider. The only concern we have when including the add to calendar link several weeks/days prior to an appointment is that if an appointment is rescheduled then the appointment in the calendar may not be updated to reflect this.

Further, we do believe that including the calendar link in an SMS at any time is still of great use with the advantages being that it will provide the patient with a notification generally an hour before the time of the appointment, and on supported devices, a second alert when they should leave to arrive on time along with directions to your practice.

Yes, I agree that a calendar link is a good feature, including for the reasons you have mentioned, however sending the link by SMS does not seem to be a practical option. Many people use their phone to diarise their appointments, and we have many clients who make an appointment at the end of their treatment, then enter the appointment into their phone. This would provide an easier and more accurate way for them to do this. I do acknowledge that if an appointment is rescheduled they may not update their calendar, however this is no different to what may currently happen if they have manually entered their appointment in their diary when they booked. Our SMS reminders the day before help reduce any problems from this.

I gather that the intention of the calendar link is to be included in the SMS reminder a day or so before their appointment, to allow their phone to give them a notification say 1 hour before their appointment. However, many people lead busy lives, so my preference is for the appointment to be put into their phone immediately, rather than a day before. I would be interested to hear how other clinics use this service, how worthwhile they find it, and whether they believe my suggestion of a link in the email receipt would be of value to them.